Overview of the events of 1984 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1984.
Children and young people
[edit]- February 19 - Marissa Meyer, American science-fiction author
- April 16 – Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, American novelist
- May 9 – Ezra Klein, American journalist and columnist
- May 21 – Jackson Pearce, American young-adult novelist
- June 5 – Simon Rich, American humorist, novelist and screenwriter
- July 11 - Marie Lu, American young-adult novelist
- July 12 – Amanda Hocking, American fantasy novelist
- August 8 – Owen Jones, English columnist and author and commentator
- October 13 - Lauren DeStefano, American young-adult author
- November 20 – Halley Feiffer, American playwright and actress
- December 10 – Helen Oyeyemi, English novelist and playwright
- February 12 – Julio Cortázar, Argentine novelist, short story writer and essayist (born 1914)
- February 21 – Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905)
- February 22
- March 4 – Odd Bang-Hansen, Norwegian novelist and children's writer (born 1908)
- March 8 – Eleanor Graham, English children's writer and editor (born 1896)
- March 12 – Arnold Ridley, English playwright and actor (born 1896)
- March 26 – Branko Ćopić, Bosnian Serb writer (suicide, born 1915)
- April 1 – Elizabeth Goudge, English writer (born 1900)
- April 15
- April 21
- April 24 – Rafael Pérez y Pérez, Spanish writer (born 1891)
- May 16 – Irwin Shaw, American playwright, screenwriter and novelist (born 1913)
- May 19 – John Betjeman, English poet laureate (born 1906)
- June 6
- June 10 – Halide Nusret Zorlutuna, Turkish poet and novelist (born 1901)
- June 30 – Lillian Hellman, American playwright (born 1905)[6]
- July 6 – Denys Val Baker, Welsh novelist and short story writer (born 1917)
- July 9 – Margaret Wetherby Williams (Margaret Erskine), English crime novelist (born 1901])
- August 14 – J. B. Priestley, English novelist and playwright (born 1894)
- August 25 – Truman Capote (Truman Streckfus Persons), American fiction writer (born 1924)
- September 7 – Liam O'Flaherty, Irish novelist and short story writer (born 1896)
- October 31 – Eduardo De Filippo, Italian playwright (born 1900)
- November 6 – Gastón Suárez, Bolivian novelist and dramatist (born 1929)
- November 10 – Xavier Herbert, Australian novelist (born 1901)
- November 12 – Chester Himes, American writer (born 1909)
- December 4 – Ștefan Voitec, Romanian politician and journalist (born 1900)
- December 6 – Gray Barker, American writer on paranormal (born 1925)
- December 14 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1898)
- Betty Trask Award, established by Society of Authors, Prize: Ronald Frame, Winter Journey, Clare Nonhebel, Cold Showers
- Booker Prize: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac
- Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Margaret Mahy, The Changeover
- Cholmondeley Award: Michael Baldwin, Michael Hofmann, Carol Rumens
- Eric Gregory Award: Martyn Crucefix, Mick Imlah, Jamie McKendrick, Bill Smith, Carol Ann Duffy, Christopher Meredith, Peter Armstrong, Iain Bamforth
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: J. G. Ballard, Empire of the Sun, and Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Lyndall Gordon, Virginia Woolf: A Writer's Life
- Whitbread Best Book Award: James Buchan, A Parish of Rich Women